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While damage to the Georgia cotton crop by Hurricane Irma has topped the news the past couple of weeks, efforts are still underway to help producers deal with the ongoing financial stress. A group representing the cotton industry was in Washington D.C. recently, and Georgia Cotton Commission Executive Director Richey Seaton explains what was discussed and who they talked with.

Floridians struggling with the after-effects of Hurricane Irma could be eligible for help buying food through USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said that households who may not normally be eligible under regular SNAP rules may qualify for D-SNAP — if their income is under the disaster limits and they …

When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was in Georgia late last week surveying damage to crops from Hurricane Irma, one of his stops was Mason Pecan Farms in Fort Valley. While countless numbers of pecans were blown off, there were also many trees on the ground. Both he and Samantha McLeod, executive director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, knows that …

U.S. Sen Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., want the federal government to quickly approve aid for farmers, small business and communities impacted by Hurricane Irma. In a letter Wednesday to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, the senators asked for “expedited consideration of any disaster declaration and assistance requests.” Irma caused extensive damage to citrus crops …

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) wants to remind farmers and ranchers affected by Hurricane Irma, that they have programs which can that provide assistance. This includes the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Over the past few days, it has become obvious that Hurricane Irma did cause quite a bit of damage to Georgia cotton fields. Preliminary observations note that every cotton field in the state has been negatively impacted in one way or another. Georgia Cotton Commission’s Richey Seaton has the details.

On September 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Congressman Tom Rooney ad Senator Marco Rubio flew in a helicopter to get an aerial view of farm damage from Hurricane Irma. Described by Rubio as an “agriculture catastrophe,” the storm ravished many Florida crops. Since many Florida vegetables were not in the ground yet, they …

After looking at Hurricane Irma’s impact to crops across the Southeast, it is being noted that the storm is going to have a negative impact on cotton. And according to a story from Stephanie Ho, that is especially true in Georgia. Image: Cotton got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Irma at Watson Farms in Moultrie, GA./Courtesy Sec. Sonny Perdue? @SecretarySonny Sep 15.

We’ve heard about the various damage reports to Florida crops from Hurricane Irma, but when it comes to the dairy industry in the state, there have been reports of damage to dairy buildings but no major losses of livestock. But the numbers are by no means near ready yet. Southeast AgNet’s Randall Weiseman talked with Florida Dairy Farmers Industry Relations …